Happy Birthday, Summer!

February 19, 2018 | Posted in Fundraising

Happy 22nd Birthday, Summer!!

A Message From Her Mother

Today would have been Summer’s 22nd birthday, had cancer not taken her from us. As we do every year, those who love her are left to wonder what she would have been like as a young adult – what she’d be doing, what direction her life would be going.

But we’ll never have answers to those questions, and that’s the hardest part on a day like today.

One thing I DO know is that she’d be so excited by the direction and impact of Team Summer. For her, it was always about helping kids with cancer, and that has been our steadfast focus. And undoubtedly, she’d have been the first one dyeing her hair purple in the Purple Hair Challenge last September, and she would have talked a bunch of you into it, too! And I know she’d be so humbled – as we all were – by the result of the end-of-year Matching Gift Campaign. If you haven’t heard, you all not only hit our $11,000 match, you far exceeded it, bringing in a total of $35,000! Thank you SO much!

So where does all this take us? We are at an interesting crossroads at Team Summer. Up until now, we’ve been a smaller group of volunteers with one paid, part-time employee to help manage the gifts. But we have reached the size where this model is no longer sustainable. In short, to continue, we need to make a BIG leap. At the January meeting of the Team Summer board of directors, we voted to begin the search for an Executive Director. To say we are not nervous about making this kind of commitment would be a lie. But it’s either march forward – on faith – or fall back. And this group has never been the “fall back” type.

On this special birthday, if you feel inspired to support our efforts please consider donating in honor of Summer’s memory and mission. We truly can’t do any of this without you!

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Diagnosed with Cancer at age 15, Summer Dale soon realized that the only people who truly understood what she was going through were other kids with cancer.

She began raising money and buying other kids special gifts to cheer them up. Although Summer lost her battle with cancer in 2012, her unique approach to gift-giving for and by kids with cancer continues to uplift children still fighting this disease.